eo-history

This python package add metadata to spatial files such as GDAL supported rasters and the Lidar formats LAZ and LAS.

This project builds on background intellectual property owned by the State of Queensland (through the Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation); see LICENSE.

Installation

You can install directly from this pypi:

python3 -m pip install eo-history[rasterio]

Using history_view as a standalone tool with uv

If you only want the history_view command without adding eo-history to a project environment, uv tool install makes it available globally:

uv tool install eo-history

After that, history_view is on your PATH and can be run directly:

history_view my_image.tif

To run it once without a permanent install, use uvx:

uvx --from eo-history history_view my_image.tif

Usage

This package allows reading and writing of processing history to gdal supported images and las/laz files. When a file is created, you can capture information of each of the inputs and store it in the created file. This allows you to build a history of a processing workflow.

For example, imagine you have a base image, which is used to create a second image, which itself is used to create a third, final image. The metadata for the final image can have the history from all its antecedants.

A diagram of this would be like

graph TD;
final_image.tif --> second_image.tif;
second_image.tif --> first_image.tif;

The history creation would be like:

from osgeo import gdal
import numpy as np
from eo_history import history


# for demonstration we create three identical images
driver = gdal.GetDriverByName("GTiff")
dst_ds = driver.Create("first_image.tif", xsize=9, ysize=9, bands=1, eType=gdal.GDT_Byte)
opt = {}
opt["DESCRIPTION"] = "Our source image"

# this image has no parents, so this is an empty list
history.insertMetadataDataset(dst_ds, [], opt)
dst_ds = None

# imagine this image was the input to a second image
dst_ds = driver.Create("second_image.tif", xsize=9, ysize=9, bands=1, eType=gdal.GDT_Byte)
opt = {}
opt["DESCRIPTION"] = "This image was created using first_image.tif"
# this image has a single parent
history.insertMetadataDataset(dst_ds, ["first_image.tif"], opt)
dst_ds = None

# and our final image
dst_ds = driver.Create("final_image.tif", xsize=9, ysize=9, bands=1, eType=gdal.GDT_Byte)
opt = {}
opt["DESCRIPTION"] = "This image is the result of a chain of processing"
# this image has a single parent
history.insertMetadataDataset(dst_ds, ["second_image.tif"], opt)
dst_ds = None

The metadata of the final image includes information on its input:

histobj = history.readTreeFromFilename("final_image.tif")
histobj.directparents.keys()
# dict_keys(['second_image.tif 2024-12-15 17:44:53'])

But also a dictionery of files and relationships:

histobj.files.keys()
# dict_keys(['first_image.tif 2024-12-15 17:44:53'])
histobj.relationships
# {('second_image.tif 2024-12-15 17:44:53',
#  'first_image.tif 2024-12-15 17:44:53'): None}

Some basic information is attempted to be captured automatically, but users can add any extra data that they would like, by passing an optional dictionary to history.insertMetadataDataset.

The standard captured data includes:

list(histobj.thismeta.keys())
# ['timestamp',
#  'login',
#  'uname_os',
#  'uname_host',
#  'uname_release',
#  'uname_version',
#  'uname_machine',
#  'cwd',
#  'python_version',
#  'commandline',
#  'script',
#  'script_dir',
#  'package_version_dict',
#  'DESCRIPTION'] # user supplied

Command-line tools

Three command-line tools are distributed with this package.

simple_history

Shows the top-level history of a file — its description, creation date, command used, and direct parents. For example:

simple_history final_image.tif

Will produce

Description:
This image is the result of a chain of processing
Creation date:

        2025-01-22 13:30:30

Command used:

        ipython

Direct Parents:

 ─┬ final_image.tif
  └──── second_image.tif

Both tools also accept GDAL virtual filesystem paths, so remote files can be inspected without downloading them first:

simple_history /vsicurl/https://example.org/image.tif

history_view

Opens a full interactive graph of the processing history in a web browser. Every ancestor file appears as a node; edges flow from oldest (top) to newest (bottom). Clicking a node shows its complete metadata in a side panel.

history_view final_image.tif
history_view /vsicurl/https://example.org/image.tif

Use --output / -o to write the HTML to a specific file instead of opening the browser directly:

history_view -o history.html final_image.tif

As an example

history_view -o cemsre_t52jes_20260318_aj0m2.html cemsre_t52jes_20260318_aj0m2.img

will produce cemsre_t52jes_20260318_aj0m2.html.

The toolbar provides several controls for navigating complex histories:

Control	Description
Depth slider	Show only the N most-recent levels of ancestry
Hierarchical	Toggle between depth-locked rows and free positioning
Untangle	Enable physics to spread overlapping nodes; click Lock to freeze
Reset	Snap all nodes back to their original depth-based positions
Fit	Zoom to fit all visible nodes on screen

You can also run it with a server option, which will start a light web server rather than opening a browser.

Usage is as follows:

Usage: history_view [OPTIONS] FILENAME

  Display the full processing history of a spatial file as an interactive graph in a web browser.

  Nodes represent files; edges flow from oldest ancestor (top) to the queried file (bottom).  Click a node to see its
  full metadata in the side panel.

  Controls:   Depth slider — show only the N most-recent levels of ancestry   Untangle     — enable physics to spread
  overlapping nodes; click Lock to freeze   Fit          — zoom to fit all visible nodes

  Works with local files and GDAL virtual filesystem paths (e.g. /vsicurl/https://... or /vsis3/...).

  Example:

  \b $ history_view final_image.tif $ history_view /vsicurl/https://example.org/image.tif $ history_view -o out.html
  final_image.tif $ history_view --serve final_image.tif $ history_view --serve --port 9000 final_image.tif

Options:
  -o, --output TEXT   Write HTML to this file instead of opening in browser.
  -s, --serve         Serve the HTML via a local web server (useful over SSH).
  -p, --port INTEGER  Port to use with --serve.  [default: 8000]
  --help              Show this message and exit.

scrub_history

Strips potentially sensitive metadata (login, hostnames, working directories, container build info, package versions, etc.) from a file's embedded history and every recorded ancestor, overwriting the file in place. The ancestry structure itself — which files were derived from which — is left intact.

scrub_history final_image.tif

By default the command, timestamp, and description are kept for each node. Use --minimal to also drop the command and description, keeping only the timestamp:

scrub_history --minimal final_image.tif

Note this rewrites the file's metadata, which will break a Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) by invalidating its internal layout.